™' }  Matico.  1 1 9 
not  only  in  scientific  but  in  popular  use  ;  thus  the  "  Tinker's  weed" 
of  North  America  {Trio  steum  per  foil  atuni)  has  reference  to  a  Dr.  Tin- 
ker, who  was  the  first  to  employ  it  in  medicine  as  an  emetic ;  and  Mr. 
Ransted,  the  introducer  of  the  common  yellow  toad  flax  {Linaria  vul- 
garis) to  the  United  States,  where  it  has  become  an  agricultural  pest, 
is  commemorated  in  its  popular  name,  "Ransted  weed." 
In  spite  of  this  identification  of  Eupatoriinn  glutinosum  as  the  original 
Matico,  it  is  certain  that  the  plant  so  called  in  commerce  is  in  most 
cases  not  that  species,  but  an  Artanthe  [J.  elongatuni)^  the  Piper  angus- 
tifolium  of  older  writers.  This  was  introduced  to  English  medical 
practice  by  Dr.  Jeffreys,  of  Liverpool,  who  published  an  account  of  it 
in  the  ''Lancet"  for  1839.  It  was  recommended  for  use  in  cases  of 
diarrhoea  and  cholera,  but  its  real  value  is  as  a  styptic,  not  from  any 
astringent  properties,  but  from  its  mechanical  action,  the  structure  of 
the  leaf  promoting  the  coagulation  of  the  blood.  It  is  chiefly  imported 
from  Peru,  but  specimens  in  the  Exhibition  or  1851  were  from  the 
province  of  Chiquas,  in  the  eastern  extremity  of  Bolivia.  Another 
species  of  Artanthe  [A.  adunca)  is  sometimes  substituted  for  A.  elongata 
in  commerce.  This  was  the  case  during  the  American  war  in  1863. 
According  to  Professor  Bentley,  however,  "  it  may  be  at  once  distin- 
guished from  the  oflicial  Matico  by  being  in  a  less  compressed  state, 
by  the  upper  surface  of  its  leaves  not  being  so  tesselated  or  rough,  and 
by  the  almost  entire  absence  of  pubescence  on  the  under  surface  of 
the  leaves."  The  true  officinal  Matico,  as  imported,  "consists  of  the 
dry  leaves,  stalks  and  spikes  (some  unripe,  others  ripe),  more  or  less 
compressed  into  a  lump,  which  has  a  greenish  color.  The  leaves  are 
from  two  to  eight  inches  long,  veined  and  tessellated  on  the  upper  sur- 
face, downy  beneath,  with  an  aromatic  slightly  astringent  warm  taste, 
and  an  agreeable,  aromatic  odor." 
Another  plant,  which  has  also  obtained  the  name  of  Matico,  is  JVal- 
theria  glomerata^  the  leaves  of  which  are  used  as  a  vulnerary  in  the 
Panama  region,  where  the  shrub  is  known  as  Pado  del  Soldado,  or 
Soldier's  Tree  ;  and  a  story  similar  to  that  given  above  is  connected 
with  it.  Dr.  Seeman  says  that  "the  same  story,  with  more  or  less 
variation,  is  told  of  many  other  vulneraries  of  Spanish  America."  Mar- 
tius  was  inclined  to  consider  that  the  true  Matico  was  furnished  by  a 
species  of  Phlomis^  but  that  genus  is  only  represented  in  America  by 
P.  fruticosa^  which  has  been  collected  in  Mexico,  where  it  was  prob- 
ably an  introduction. — Fharm.  fourn.  and  Trans. ^  Jan.  2,  1875. 
